In comedy, a dick joke (other terms for the same meaning: "cock joke" "penis joke" British English knob gag) is a joke that makes either an indirect or a direct reference to a human penis, also less commonly used as an umbrella term for dirty jokes. The famous quote from Mae West, "Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" is cited as an example of a dick joke. Attitudes towards dick jokes amongst comedians vary. Some shun them. Others see them as a means of last resort, to obtain a laugh when all else fails. The impact of this kind of joke, as with most humor, rests with the unspoken connotation, specifically in this joke set in a class in medical school:

Quotations

• "When in doubt, go for the dick joke." — Robin Williams
• "Shock! A knob gag." — Ben Elton
• "Here's the deal, I editorialize for 40 minutes, the last 10 minutes, we pull our chutes and float down to Dick Joke Island together, okay?" — Bill Hicks, who also described his particular style of comedy as "Chomsky with dick jokes."
• "You don't go to CNN for dick jokes; don't come here for hard hitting journalism." — Anthony Cumia

Further reading

• Ricky Blue The world loves a good Dick joke. Log Cabin Chronicles. Retrieved on 2006-01-11., 2005-11-02.
• Sushi Restaurant Places Dick Joke Advertorial in The Onion. Adrants. Retrieved on 2006-01-11., 2005-11-17.
• Matt McDonald foul language. Jokes & Comedians. Retrieved on 2006-01-11., 2005-03-14. — McDonald opines that being a "dick joke comic" is "a slander", implying that the comic has "nothing but jokes about that one topic".
• Steve Silberberg Black Hack Stand-Up Comedy FAQ. Usenet FAQs. Retrieved on 2008-07-14.. — "An occasional dick joke is great"